Chorim’s face lit up with excitement as they went downstairs to the PC bang. It had been a while since she had last been to one. She had restricted herself ever since she started concentrating on building a perfect image for herself. PC bangs were not exactly the place people would imagine someone like her to frequent. The dark underground level was incredibly spacious with rows upon rows of high-tech computers with flashy lights. Chorim was amazed by how many people were gathered in one place. As they walked along, Chorim started feeling uneasy. What if someone who knows me sees me here… She quickly got out her sunglasses and popped them on. Chorim was also impressed by the amount of people who were friendly greeting and nodding at Jimin as he walked past them. Does he come here that often or…?
“Do you have to wear your sunglasses inside?” Taehyung questioned with distaste.
“Yes. Just in case someone recognises me.” Chorim said with a smug look on her face.
“Then why did you want to come with us if you don’t want to be seen here?” Irritated, Taehyung snatched her sunglasses off and held them up in the air so she couldn’t reach them.
“I just haven’t been in a long time!” She snapped, giving up on trying to get them back.
Jimin had already made it to their seats and waved his arms excitedly at them, hurrying them over.

~

“FXCK YEEEEEESSSSS!” Chorim took her headphones off and slammed them on the table. Jimin groaned as he rubbed his face excessively whilst Chorim unintentionally made a scene by yelling out swear words one after the other, unable to contain her excitement from winning the game. “TAKE THAT YOU FXCKING LOSERS!”
Taehyung buried his face into his hands in agony after the loss. They had been through several games in long hours and they still could not beat her. Jimin leaned back on his chair with his headphones on his shoulders and faced the devastated Taehyung.
“Wow, you really can’t judge a book by its cover…” Taehyung knew that Jimin was probably referring to the several times Chorim swore out loud and whacked him during the games out of anger.
“No you can not.” Taehyung replied just before Chorim fell back into her seat and looked at both of them gleefully.
“How are you so good at this?” Jimin complained.
“I played a lot a few years back since I liked staying at home.” Chorim said somewhat proudly and then stretched her arms out before yawning. “I’m so tired.” She said, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?”
“One.” Taehyung said.
“One!?” She leapt forward onto the desk and stared at the time in the corner. “I have class tomorrow…” She uttered under her breath devastatingly before turning to Taehyung and started staring at him.
“Do...you want to head home now?” Taehyung said, a bit unsure about what signals she was sending him. She enthusiastically nodded and had already started gathering her stuff.
“Alright, get home safely.” Jimin spun his chair towards them. “It was nice meeting you Chorim!” Jimin grinned widely.
“Um...it’s kind of late, shouldn’t you head home too?” Chorim asked with concern as she put on her coat.
“Nah, I’m going to tune into a Meokbang stream now…” Jimin waved farewell to them before putting his headphones back on and re-gluing his eyes to the screen. Chorim thought he was joking but he really did begin watching a live stream of a Meokbang channel of someone eating. She reached out to tap him on his shoulder but Taehyung stopped her abruptly and sternly shook his head.

~

Although it was late into the night, the streets were still alive with various clubs, restaurants and shops still open and people roaming around as if it was only the afternoon. It was somewhat expected as the area was a central hub for mainly students, seeing as there was a university as well as a lot student accommodation within the vicinity.
“So what? You just let him stay there?” Chorim angrily exclaimed to Taehyung as they walked alongside each other, on their way home. He told her about Jimin’s addiction to gaming and how letting Jimin stay back instead of forcing him to go home was what him and his friends did whenever they went out to PC bangs. Taehyung just kind of dug his hands into his pockets and strolled along.
“Look, it’s not ideal but we’ve tried forcing him to go home before and it just aggravates him even more. He once ended up at a police station for fighting with a manager at another place.” He let out a short sigh. “We figured that leaving him alone is better so at least he stays safe and doesn’t get into trouble. He does go home to rest eventually.”
Chorim hadn’t realised how bad Jimin’s situation was and started to feel guilty for contributing to it, even if they had only met just hours ago. “Still…” Chorim felt uneasy but decided not to say anymore. Exactly how long is ‘eventually’? A whole night? More than two nights?
They continued to walk through the busy streets and gradually, it became quieter which meant they had entered where the apartment complexes started. Disturbing the silence, however, was the sound of Chorim’s stomach growling viciously. Taehyung pretended not to notice and kept going despite Chorim slowing down behind him, most likely out of embarrassment. He kept an eye out for any neighbourhood restaurants and spotted a convenient noodle house tent across the street.
“I’m hungry.” He said and ditched Chorim to walk towards it.
“Wait for me!” Chorim cried out, half annoyed, half overjoyed.

~

They sat down on the plastic stool chairs and looked over the badly laminated menus. Of course, Chorim knew that any food at this time was guaranteed to taste like heaven because she was starving. Really lost track of time in the PC bang...never again… She immediately had traumatic flashbacks of her slamming her headphones down and swearing loudly and then hung her head in shame. The ugly side of me comes out too often these days...I need to be more careful… She sighed and looked away from the menu to stare off into the distance.

Her eyes suddenly widened with fear and she frantically took out her sunglasses and popped them on again. Walking towards the tent was Namjoon and his friends. Fortunately for Chorim, Jin wasn’t there but unfortunately for Chorim, Dasom was.
“Can you please take your sunglasses off? It’s almost 2AM and you look ridiculous.”
“Still a lot less ridiculous than the person whose hair covers half their face.” Chorim snarled before turning her body to hide.
“Who are you even hiding from?” Taehyung questioned before turning around to see for himself.
“Some friends…” Chorim reluctantly said. Her eyes wandered from Namjoon to Dasom and she quickly added, “Well, a friend.”
“Friend, huh?” Taehyung smirked, “I don’t think you would be hiding if you really considered them your friend.”
Chorim tightened her jaw and pretended to ignore him. What do you know anyway? She started cursing at him in her head but then had to focus on hiding herself  from Namjoon and Dasom by turning away to hide her face. As they walked past, Dasom sniggered judgmentally at the sight of Taehyung whose hair was often the source of much ridicule from others. Just the sight of her nastily whispering to her friend whilst clearly staring at him made him anxious. Taehyung’s fists remained clenched in his lap until the group was well away from the tent.
“Are they gone?” Chorim whispered, pulling her sunglasses down slightly.

“Yeah.” Taehyung replied, still feeling uneasy.
“Oh thank goodness.” Chorim took off her sunglasses completely and sneakily looked back. She then leaned in towards Taehyung and asked, “Do you know what Dasom was laughing about?” Taehyung stared at her. “Dasom. The girl with short hair walking in the middle.”   
“No.” He curtly replied. “Why do you care so much anyway?” Ignoring her obvious unsatisfied pout, he raised his hand to call for the food stand’s owner, ready to order.

~

Taehyung had to stop eating just to watch Chorim as she devoured her food down like she hadn’t eaten in months. She ungraciously and loudly slurped the Jajangmyeon noodles up, leaving a thick unflattering ring of sauce around her lips, and didn’t have any breaks. He wasn’t sure if he was more impressed by her or more scared of her.
“Are you actually a beast disguised as a girl?” Taehyung said judgmentally. Chorim slowly turned her head to glare at him with a strand of noodle still hanging out of . She quickly slurped it up without breaking eye contact and then brutishly wiped the sauce off with her sleeve and sneered at him before continuing to satisfy her hunger. Taehyung couldn’t help but chuckle before returning to his own meal.
 

Next chapter preview:
“Let’s go, let’s go.” Chorim closed the door behind her and scuffled over to Taehyung’s place with Jimin following close behind. Taehyung raised his arm up and blocked the doorway.
“Where do you think you’re going?” He asked.
“Taehyung please, I’m not letting him into my place, are you kidding me?” Chorim laughed obnoxiously and looked behind at Jimin for acknowledgement. She stealthily ducked underneath his arm and sneaked into his place and Jimin did the exact same thing. Taehyung stood by his door, speechless.
“Yah!”

A/N: Ah, it's been a while hasn't it? Thanks for staying with me and giving me your much appreciated support! I hope you're still enjoying the story as it unfolds. I'm pretty pumped about the future chapters of this story so stay tuned. ╭(♡･ㅂ･)و ̑̑  Depending on the response for this chapter, the next one might be up in a few days? Who knows...hehehe ♡´･ᴗ･`♡